This just makes me sad
This was in our local paper today.The Headline reads..."Oregon calculates forest's worth to kids". When I saw it I so foolish and naively had a thought that it meant people were realizing the value of saving our forests for our children.
Oh my foolish, broken heart.....
The article is about whether or not the state should full out sell land that they get logging revenues from. Kind of like selling the business vs. keeping it to run yourself. The idea behind it is that the large cash infusion would be valuable to funding the public schools in the state. (The current logging revenues are used for school funding.) NOT ONCE, not even as a one sentence paragraph does it mention the possibility of selling the land to some entity that wants to preserve it.
Okay, I get it - the land was designated when Oregon was giving statehood as being for school funding. It isn't a new idea. What is new is that our forest lands are disappearing at a rate - or already have disappeared - that the founders never dreamed of. And I get it that school funding is a HUGE issue here. (You may or may not recall Portland schools being lampooned in Doonesbury this time last year). It is a serious problem. But as it is with so many things these days, the issue is only being approached from a short term economically driven perspective. 'What would be best for the pocket book' is the only concern.
It kills me to see this scenario play out over and over. As a mother it is one of the most frightening things to imagine in my children's future that they have learn about forests in books and the increasingly rare remaining 'preserved' land. I cannot imagine life in a world where there are no trees that are to big to put your arms around.
I say - sell the land to a trust that will protect it from ever being harvested. Make it part of the deal that the trust will allow the state to utilize the forest as a part of their state school curriculum. Fund outdoor/environmental education in the schools with revenues from camping and public use fees. That way, the state gets a large lump sum now that they can use to invest in our schools now. The land becomes protected. The state continues to have revenue from the land. Our children grow up knowing the real value of a forest and are educated in ways to protect it.
I know...in a perfect world......dream on......
I just can't lose hope of the notion that dreams do come true. It keeps me going.
posted by Unknown at
5:26 pm
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